Satire is often used to poke fun at different situations and the culture of society. Some pieces of satire may be as direct as saying it right up front. Or the author might make you think about it before you understand the satire. But regardless of how direct it is there are three categories that satire can be classified as: Political, Religious, and Social. All three genres are used in music/art/literaure etc. There are examples of songs below that might help you understand the concept of satire.
Along with satire, there usually comes irony. Now irony and satire aren't the same but irony is a more abstract way of making fun of or twisting something. Authors and artists use ironic situations to paint a picture in your head of different concepts throughout the song.
When listening/looking/reading satire or irony you have to have an understanding of the culture at the time it was written to get the jokes intended to the listener. So when your listening to the car radio, listen closely for satire because it might be right under your nose...
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Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues is a very satirical song. It is mostly political and social satire because it makes fun of different times in the nation when there was turmoil. Bob Dylan portrays life in the 1960's and how people felt about the decade. He makes fun of the drug population and how people sold and did drugs a lot. It talks about hippies and the rebellions that took place. He also throughout the song pokes fun at the Vietnam War and the draft. Towards the end he mocks the civil rights movement and how the government would use fire houses for crowd control. This song pretty much sums up every conflict in the U.S. during the 60’s and satirizes it with irony to get his point across.
Born in the U.S.A. is a very satirical song that not many people see as satirical against the US. People think that it is a very happy song and it is telling us to be proud we're American. But if you listen carefully and read the lyrics you can see that Bruce is not complimenting America as you may think. In the first line it says, "I was born in a dead man's town." Since the song is titled born in the USA he is saying the USA is a dead man's town. He also says in the first verse, "You end up like a dog that's been beat too much...'Til you spend half your life just covering up" This is stating that living in the USA can be harder than people expect and can ruin your life. He also talks about the Vietnam War and how his brother was killed their. He is hinting around the fact that he doesn't like the draft. You can see this when you hear, "I got in a little hometown jam...And so they put a rifle in my hands...Sent me off to Vietnam...To go and kill the yellow man." This is saying that anyone that was drafted could pretty much carry a gun and shoot people, according to the government.
Phil Ochs- Outside of a Small Circle of Friends Lyrics
Phil Ochs uses this carnival sounding tune to show how stupid and selfish people could be sometimes when they aren't with their friends. In the first verse he talks about the murder of Kitty Genovese and how there were 38 people in the building that she was murdered in front of and they all witnessed her get attacked three times and never called the police or helped because they thought the police would take care of it or it was none of their busniess. He talks about these people when he says, "Look outside the window, there`s a woman being grabbed...They`ve dragged her to the bushes and now she`s being stabbed...Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain...But Monopoly is so much fun, I`d hate to blow the game." He also talks about how people are hypacritical because "Oh there`s a dirty paper using sex to make a sale...The Supreme Court was so upset, they sent him off to jail...Maybe we should help the fiend and take away his fine...But we`re busy reading Playboy and the Sunday New York Times" He wonders why people can't just help people out and not be so afraid to help someone because they might get sued or into trouble.
Alices Restaurant is a classic song that i have listened to since i was a kid and has been a tradition to listen to on Thanksgiving every year. But what i havn't understood for so long was the content of the song and how much irony and satire are used throughout the song. Arlo Guthrie uses this repetative funny story to explain how much his life changed from getting arrested once for littering. It starts out with him going to Alice's for thanksgiving dinner and he sees that the garbage is full so he goes to the dump and its closed so he dumbs the trash off a cliff, where there had been other trash at the bottom. Well later on that night he was arrested for the dumping of trash and as he went there they got bailed out and went to court the next day and the police had tons of pictures and different types of evidence against them, but ironically, the judge was blind. So they were fined. Also he makes fun of the draft and how they would test you for thousands of things to see if you are stable enough to go into war. He jokes around and wonders why they need to see if your sane enough to kill people. Throughout the whole song you can pick out so many examples of repitition, satire, and irony.
This song is a more recent song that has been topping the music charts for its use of satire. Eminem uses modern culture in this song and makes fun of celeberities such as; Brett Michaels, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Palin, Jessica Simpson and other celebs that are always talked about in the media. His video especially explains what he is talking about in the song if you aren't familiar with the lyrics. He pretends to be Brett Michaels in the hit reality show Rock of Love on VH1. He trys to show how celeberties are put above everyone else but also how the media and society looks at these people's mistakes and laugh at their stupidity.
Californication is a song that many people have heard. It indirectly satirizes the Hollywood culture and how people just want to be like the people on the red carpet. They say, "Pay your surgeon very well...To break the spell of aging...Celebrity skin is this your chin...Or is that war your waging" This is showing how people always want to look younger so they get surgery to change the way they look to keep up with the culture. "Sicker than the rest...There is no test...But this is what you're craving" is said in the last verse to explain how people want this rockstar/celeberity lifestyle but they dont realize that it's not all that great as people believe it to be. It also talks about Kurt Cobain and how he killed himself and now his band, Nirvana is a huge success. RHCP make you realize with this song that sometimes it may cause you your life to become famous and sometimes your not there to witness it for yourself.
"Read Between the Lines"
Satire is often used to poke fun at different situations and the culture of society. Some pieces of satire may be as direct as saying it right up front. Or the author might make you think about it before you understand the satire. But regardless of how direct it is there are three categories that satire can be classified as: Political, Religious, and Social. All three genres are used in music/art/literaure etc. There are examples of songs below that might help you understand the concept of satire.
Along with satire, there usually comes irony. Now irony and satire aren't the same but irony is a more abstract way of making fun of or twisting something. Authors and artists use ironic situations to paint a picture in your head of different concepts throughout the song.
When listening/looking/reading satire or irony you have to have an understanding of the culture at the time it was written to get the jokes intended to the listener. So when your listening to the car radio, listen closely for satire because it might be right under your nose...
Video content may take longer to load. So wait momentarily.
Bob Dylan- Subterranean Homesick Blues
Lyrics
Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues is a very satirical song. It is mostly political and social satire because it makes fun of different times in the nation when there was turmoil. Bob Dylan portrays life in the 1960's and how people felt about the decade. He makes fun of the drug population and how people sold and did drugs a lot. It talks about hippies and the rebellions that took place. He also throughout the song pokes fun at the Vietnam War and the draft. Towards the end he mocks the civil rights movement and how the government would use fire houses for crowd control. This song pretty much sums up every conflict in the U.S. during the 60’s and satirizes it with irony to get his point across.
Bruce Springsteen- Born in the U.S.A.
Lyrics
Born in the U.S.A. is a very satirical song that not many people see as satirical against the US. People think that it is a very happy song and it is telling us to be proud we're American. But if you listen carefully and read the lyrics you can see that Bruce is not complimenting America as you may think. In the first line it says, "I was born in a dead man's town." Since the song is titled born in the USA he is saying the USA is a dead man's town. He also says in the first verse, "You end up like a dog that's been beat too much...'Til you spend half your life just covering up" This is stating that living in the USA can be harder than people expect and can ruin your life. He also talks about the Vietnam War and how his brother was killed their. He is hinting around the fact that he doesn't like the draft. You can see this when you hear, "I got in a little hometown jam...And so they put a rifle in my hands...Sent me off to Vietnam...To go and kill the yellow man." This is saying that anyone that was drafted could pretty much carry a gun and shoot people, according to the government.
Phil Ochs- Outside of a Small Circle of Friends
Lyrics
Phil Ochs uses this carnival sounding tune to show how stupid and selfish people could be sometimes when they aren't with their friends. In the first verse he talks about the murder of Kitty Genovese and how there were 38 people in the building that she was murdered in front of and they all witnessed her get attacked three times and never called the police or helped because they thought the police would take care of it or it was none of their busniess. He talks about these people when he says, "Look outside the window, there`s a woman being grabbed...They`ve dragged her to the bushes and now she`s being stabbed...Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain...But Monopoly is so much fun, I`d hate to blow the game." He also talks about how people are hypacritical because "Oh there`s a dirty paper using sex to make a sale...The Supreme Court was so upset, they sent him off to jail...Maybe we should help the fiend and take away his fine...But we`re busy reading Playboy and the Sunday New York Times" He wonders why people can't just help people out and not be so afraid to help someone because they might get sued or into trouble.
Arlo Guthrie- Alice's Restaurant
Lyrics
Alices Restaurant is a classic song that i have listened to since i was a kid and has been a tradition to listen to on Thanksgiving every year. But what i havn't understood for so long was the content of the song and how much irony and satire are used throughout the song. Arlo Guthrie uses this repetative funny story to explain how much his life changed from getting arrested once for littering. It starts out with him going to Alice's for thanksgiving dinner and he sees that the garbage is full so he goes to the dump and its closed so he dumbs the trash off a cliff, where there had been other trash at the bottom. Well later on that night he was arrested for the dumping of trash and as he went there they got bailed out and went to court the next day and the police had tons of pictures and different types of evidence against them, but ironically, the judge was blind. So they were fined. Also he makes fun of the draft and how they would test you for thousands of things to see if you are stable enough to go into war. He jokes around and wonders why they need to see if your sane enough to kill people. Throughout the whole song you can pick out so many examples of repitition, satire, and irony.
Eminem- We Made You
Lyrics
This song is a more recent song that has been topping the music charts for its use of satire. Eminem uses modern culture in this song and makes fun of celeberities such as; Brett Michaels, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Palin, Jessica Simpson and other celebs that are always talked about in the media. His video especially explains what he is talking about in the song if you aren't familiar with the lyrics. He pretends to be Brett Michaels in the hit reality show Rock of Love on VH1. He trys to show how celeberties are put above everyone else but also how the media and society looks at these people's mistakes and laugh at their stupidity.
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication
Lyrics
Californication is a song that many people have heard. It indirectly satirizes the Hollywood culture and how people just want to be like the people on the red carpet. They say, "Pay your surgeon very well...To break the spell of aging...Celebrity skin is this your chin...Or is that war your waging" This is showing how people always want to look younger so they get surgery to change the way they look to keep up with the culture. "Sicker than the rest...There is no test...But this is what you're craving" is said in the last verse to explain how people want this rockstar/celeberity lifestyle but they dont realize that it's not all that great as people believe it to be. It also talks about Kurt Cobain and how he killed himself and now his band, Nirvana is a huge success. RHCP make you realize with this song that sometimes it may cause you your life to become famous and sometimes your not there to witness it for yourself.